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Twitter’s ‘Circle of Trust’

Someone asked me the other day what I thought was the most iconic logo in the world. I think the obvious logos that tend to spring to mind are McDonald’s, Coca Cola and Apple. However, I came to the conclusion that they were far too predictable and obvious. So I began to think about the ever increasing number of social media platforms. Social media icons for example Facebook and Twitter are instantly recognisable because they’re used by such a large audience. Even when a brand’s name isn’t mentioned or the colour of the icon has been changed, people can still identify them. This is even more surprising as many of these icons have been in circulation for less than a decade. Twitter’s instantly recognisable blue bird came to mind; you may think that it’s just as predictable as the three brands I mentioned earlier but let me explain why it’s not and what I think makes it distinctive.

After researching the Twitter logo in more detail it made me think about the creative processes that brands go through to produce a logo, in particular an iconic one such as Twitter. I was interested to discover that the Twitter logo is comprised of a number of interlocking circles, almost like a Venn diagram, which were used as a design orientation to create the iconic bird symbol. Twitter’s bird aka Larry can be seen all over the internet to generate awareness of breaking news and recently when you use the search engine Google, with tweets appearing along with the suggested links. After thinking about it further, I wondered whether the interlinking circles are in fact a critical insight into Twitter and its future.

One of the reasons why we’re so up to date with what’s going on in the world is partly due to Twitter’s real-time capabilities and focus on micro-content, where people live tweet about things as they happen. My interpretation is that the interlinking circles represent the links which are created by Twitter users when they tweet to other people who may not be aware of something. Once they see a tweet they’re immediately part of the ‘circle’ enabling them to comment and express their opinion as well as sharing their own content through a trending hashtag.

What’s next for Twitter’s future? The real-time communication lends itself to messaging and staying connected to friends and family in an easy and accessible way. It’s my personal belief they may well venture into the instant messaging arena similar to WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. This would enable Twitter users to manage their communication and links them to their own ‘circle of friends’ as well as other networks of people. Have you ever seen the film ‘Meet the Parents’ where Jack Byrnes aka Robert Di Nero refers to his ‘circle of trust’ for his family? This in essence is what Twitter is creating, a ‘Circle of Trust’ (or at Cirkle the ‘Cirkle of Trust’) with their loyal users. With Twitters community moderation tools like their block button, the circle isn’t likely to be broken by Twitter trolls or other users causing online harassment.

Having looked at where Twitter is now, as well as gazing into its future, hopefully you can appreciate the concept of the interlinking circles which the Twitter logo was developed from. Twitters ‘Circle of Trust’ is an exciting idea which has the potential to increase the brands profile and will contribute to its longevity.